Israel released on Sunday the full list of organisations whose members will be barred from entering the country.The 'BDS blacklist' features 22 Palestine solidarity organisations and NGOs from from Europe, the United States, South America, and Africa. Their employees or members will be banned from entering Israel on grounds of their alleged support of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign. According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the ban applies to those in senior positions in the listed organisations as well as to key activists, even if they don't hold any official position."The boycott organizations need to know that the State of Israel will act against them and not allow [them] to enter its territory to harm its citizens," said Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, whose ministry spearheads anti-BDS efforts with large amounts of government funding. "No country would have allowed critics coming to harm the country to entry it," he added.Human rights groups have condemned the move, which is based on an amendment to the Entry to Israel Law allowing Israel to deny any kind of visa to foreign nationals or non-residents who have “knowingly issued a public call to impose a boycott on the State of Israel,” or work for organisations who have done so.Hassan Jabareen, general director of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, pointed out that besides placing “draconian limits on foreign visitors” the ban also “restricts the ability of Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents of the Occupied Palestinian Territory to exercise their rights of association for the purposes of family unification, for employment, and for cultural and political exchange.”“This move is reminiscent of South Africa's apartheid regime which also prepared blacklists in order to punish people and prevent the entry of those opposed to its racist policies," Jabareen added.
The list of banned organisations as published by Haaretz:European organizations:■ The France Association Palestine Solidarity■ BDS France ■ BDS Italy■ The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine■ Friends of Al-Aqsa■ Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign■ The Palestine Committee of Norway■ Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden■ Palestine Solidarity Campaign■ War on Want■ BDS Kampagne
American organizations:■ American Friends Service Committee■ American Muslims for Palestine■ Code Pink■ Jewish Voice for Peace■ National Students for Justice in Palestine■ US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Other:■ BDS Chile■ BDS South Africa■ BDS National Committee